Well, it was certainly something that Arthur hadn't expected.

To be sitting in the same pub, at the same table –as coincidence would have it, and in the company of the same man as the last, rather unpleasant, trip to the establishment so many months ago. Arthur looked across the table at the smiling face of a man who had once been the bane of his existence and couldn't help but think that the universe apparently held irony in very high regard when dealing with this sort of situation. Though he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't glad to be there again; he was glad that Alfred had come into the shop that day, he was glad that he only had a four hour shift that day, he was glad that Alfred had invited him out. The idea was very sweet and innocent when Arthur thought about it.

It had actually been sunny that day, which was a pleasant and all round welcome change considering the amount of rain they'd had over the winter, and the usual April showers hadn't helped; Arthur had almost forgotten what a blue sky looked like and how the sun felt on his skin. It was enough to lift anyone's spirits. Arthur found himself smiling as he walked from the bus stop to his workplace in the bright May sun and even through the monotony of customers and the mundane duties he had to perform, he was actually, dare he think it, fairly pleased with how the day was going. The sun was shining in through the glass windows that took up the majority of the front wall, and all he had to do was simply turn his head slightly and he could see the clearest blue sky that he had seen in a while. Somehow, that sky only seemed to brighten as he saw a familiar head of sunny blond hair approach him, carrying the same idiotically bright smile as always.

"Good afternoon Alfred." Arthur smiled cheerfully before Alfred had a chance to say anything, placing clothes onto their hangers; it wasn't even subtle how much the American's smile widened, one could think the sunshine was emanating from his smile alone.

"Hi Arthur!" Came the jovial reply. "Man! It sure is great outside huh?"

"You can say that again. I haven't seen the sky so clear for weeks." Arthur chuckled and Alfred's grin turned cheeky.

"Oh so that's why you seem so cheery! You love the sunshine just as much as I do!"

"I wouldn't go quite that far." He smiled wryly.

"Aw c'mon I know you do! I see that smile, you can't hide it!" Alfred just seemed encouraged by Arthur's failure at a nonchalant reply. The Englishman simply scoffed and got back to work.

"Well it would be difficult to not be in high spirits; after so much rain I thought we might never see the sun again!"

"Oh my God did you just laugh?" Alfred grinned widely, it only brightened when Arthur cleared his throat and looked away, but he was still a mischievous twist to his lips.

"No, what nonsense, you must have been mistaken." He replied and the other man simply snickered.

"You can't fool me!"

"Oh shut up, if your only reason to be here was to give me grief, how about you get lost and enjoy your precious sun some more?" Arthur chuckled and raised a curious eyebrow when Alfred suddenly became sheepish; he seemed to be trying to find the right words, shifting his gaze.

"Right. About that…" He trailed off. Arthur felt a small flash of worry and tilted his head sympathetically, pausing in his work to approach Alfred properly.

"Is everything okay?" He asked in a worried tone and Alfred only seemed to become more flustered; when the American finally looked at him, it was with a furrowed brow as he spoke hesitantly.

"Um- It's kinda about… What happened, that time after Christmas?"

Arthur's world skidded to a halt; a thousand painfully embarrassing flashbacks shooting across his mind as he relived the whole night of 'The Boxing Day Incident' in two seconds flat, recalling every excruciating detail oh his humiliation.

"Oh. Is that so?" He asked, a tight smile tugging his lips. He hadn't forgotten the event by any means, but it no longer plagued his every thought unless he actually made the badly thought out, conscious choice of remembering it; which was always a bad plan because then his entire mind would be filled all kinds of terrible things! Guilt, humiliation and seeing Alfred's caring expression every time he closed his eyes would simply be the tip of the iceberg and by God he did not want to know how far that iceberg went. Even when he did pull the pin on that grenade however, what usually pulled him out of the mortification flashbacks was the fact that Alfred hadn't seemed to care when they saw each other again; the fact that he had obviously moved on and that was what made Arthur able to do the same. It hadn't affected the relationship between them; or so he thought. Maybe Alfred had finally changed his mind; the mere thought of it was somehow horrific to Arthur, he still thought they didn't really know each other that well and he didn't want the man to think he was a completely hopeless prick!

"Yeah. I know it's probably a touchy subject, seeing as it probably wasn't the best way to end the day…" Alfred trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner that Arthur found rather endearing if he had to be honest; the man still seemed to feel guilty about letting the Englishman go overboard in the first place. "But I was wondering… If we could go back there? To that same bar I mean? Sometime?" He finished quietly, worried about what reaction he'd receive.

He didn't receive a reaction really, not at first anyway; it seemed Arthur had broken. Staring at Alfred with an almost incredulous expression, it took the man a minute to even process what Alfred was suggesting.

"I… Beg your pardon?"

"Well, I know last time was a more of a spur of the moment thing, but last time also didn't turn out that great so I was hoping that maybe we could try again?" Alfred explained quickly, trying to clarify what was going through his head. "Instead of a 'drink away sorrows from a bad day' thing, let's make it a 'celebrate good weather for once' kinda thing y'know?" He grinned, the sheepish expression making him look like a nervous teenager. When Arthur just seemed to stall from answering the invitation, Alfred sighed and rubbed the back of his neck again. "I know it's stupid but… I-I don't like remembering a place for a bad experience. Whenever something bad happens, I always make sure I go back there so I remember the good memories and not the bad ones." He looked at Arthur sadly. "It's a nice place, I don't wanna ruin for you." He added quietly. Arthur's own expression softened and he sighed, looking back to his work and busying himself; partly to keep himself from getting penalised for not working, and partly so he didn't have to look at Alfred's sincerity.

In all honesty, the place he had taken Alfred that night was one of his favourite pubs; he knew the owners personally and they had good drink and even better food. He always went there to wind down after a hard day or if he had the day off so he could drop by and say hello, even if he was simply curing boredom, it was one of his favourite places to be when he needed a trip to the pub. And he hadn't set foot in said establishment ever since the incident. Alfred had a very good point; it would be a crying shame if he was never able to go to his favourite pub ever again simply because of a bad experience; not to mention that a part of him very strongly wanted to make it up to Alfred for being such a fool, even if Alfred saw it as himself making up for his own mistake. Now that Arthur thought about it, maybe it was better that Alfred thought he was making up for his own mistake rather than Arthur's.

"Well. If you're really that worried about it, there's nothing much I can do is there?…" Arthur didn't look back at Alfred, deciding it was best to keep his focus on his work as he feigned indifference; he cleared his throat. "I suppose there can be little harm in visiting a pub." Arthur felt a considerable weight lift off his shoulders when he heard the American sigh with relief and laugh freely; his mood only lifted more when he chanced a glance and saw the man's carefree grin back where it belonged.

"Thanks Arthur! That's a weight of my mind!" Alfred said brightly and Arthur felt warm right to his core. Sunny days really were wonderful.

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts and looked into his cup; it was a little early yet for alcohol so he had ordered a tea while Alfred had very maturely gone with a glass of diet coke. So far the visit had gone very pleasantly; Alfred had waited around for Arthur to finish his shift (Insisting that they just had to visit the pub that very day), and then drove with Arthur to the same dreaded pub. They had finished their stories from Christmas as well as caught up on what they had both done since then; Arthur was already feeling much better than he had been. He used to get drunk all the time a few years prior, properly smashed, unable to walk half the time let alone speak, many people had seen him in much worse conditions than Alfred had seen him; so it perplexed Arthur as to what made him always feel so damn self-conscious around the man. Maybe it was the fact he didn't want anyone to perceive him wrongly after he had turned over a new leaf? … That reason would have to do for now.

"-And it took like, 2 hours to get the food dye out of my hair so yeah I'm not gonna try that again." Alfred laughed, finishing off what seemed to Arthur as a cooking experiment story.

"Well that is sort of why you're not supposed to put things like that in the microwave." He chuckled despite himself and gestured to Alfred's hands. "And it looks like your fingers are still a bit pink as well." He smiled when Alfred lifted his hands and pouted at his fingers

"Yeah as much as I don't wanna look like a teenager experimenting with hair dye, I was too scared to use bleach on my hands or my hair…" He mumbled and Arthur laughed

"Looks like there's still some pink in your hair as well lad, now I look properly."

"Oh crap, for real? Damn I thought I got it all…" Alfred said worriedly, grabbing some of his fringe and trying to get a good look at it; Arthur laughed again, liking how the other man blushed a little too much. "Dude that was mean." The American scolded light heartedly when he realised that Arthur had been teasing him. "At least I learnt what not to do! And that's the whole point of science!" He grinned and Arthur smiled before something came to his mind.

"Oh, while we're on the subject, I've never actually asked what you do for a living. That must have been rather rude of me as you obviously know what I do. Are you employed with some sort of science? Since you seem so interested in it, I mean."

"You mean I never told you?" Alfred looked rather surprised himself. "Science is great and all but that's not what my job is. I'm into tech design!" He said proudly with a strong grin; Arthur was less surprised than he thought he'd be.

"Tech design? You mean, things to do with computers?"

"Yeah that kinda thing. I work on all kinds of stuff!" Alfred told him happily, sitting back in his seat. "I majored in college and I got to work with loads of companies! Then I got an apprenticeship for about a year, then tried to work as much as I could, getting my foot in the door with as many companies as I could, and then I got the offer to work overseas and I thought 'Sure! A change of scene and a different country sounds great!' I was never really that great with languages though." He chuckled. "So I was really glad to get set up in England. And, then I came here." The American grinned, rather pleased with himself when he saw just how impressed Arthur looked. The other man cleared his throat and looked down at his glass.

"That's… Rather remarkable actually." Arthur said softly; the man looked like he was barely out of university to begin with, and he had already done so much with his life, he had such a drive to do what loved and what he wanted in life that Arthur found that he was beginning to have a new respect for Alfred. He may have even been a little jealous. Alfred hardly noticed, but he was blushing sheepishly as he fiddled with his glass. Arthur tilted his head to the side a little (a gesture he didn't normally make, thinking it was childish). "What company are you with?" He asked curiously; it would have had to be something international.

"Oh um-… Car Company." Alfred said casually, looking away; when he glanced back he saw Arthur's impressive eyebrows raised in a rather unamused fashion. "They need tech guys too!"

"You're not telling me. You're stalling." Arthur leant forward with a smirk on his face. "Do you actually work somewhere impressive?" He joked and Alfred went on the mock-defensive.

"It's a car company!" He whined, still trying not to look at him. Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"What company?" He asked and got no reply. "Alfred." Still nothing. He narrowed his eyes as Alfred bit his lips together, smiling. "I'm going to hate you aren't I?"

"Aston Martin." Alfred finally admitted and Arthur's mouth gaped open.

"Aston Martin!? You work for Aston Martin!?" He shrieked quietly so he didn't catch attention. "I can't believe this! You bloody sodding git!" He thumped the table with his fist as Alfred burst out laughing, shrugging casually and grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to know!"

"How does someone like you end up working there?! You are the least professional person I have ever seen!"

"What? Oh come on dude that's mean! I can be serious when I need to! I guess it's no retail store but…" He trailed off teasingly, the grin still firmly in place.

"Oi! Sod off!" Arthur scoffed and started jabbing Alfred's shoulder playfully with his pointer finger in time with his words. "I worked hard to get this far Mr Privilege! Mr Aston-Bloody-Martin! Mr My-parents-bought-me-a-house!" He laughed a little louder than normal, causing a large grin to spread over Alfred's face.

"Hey! I paid for that place fair and square! I would have been able to get a bigger one if the dollar exchange wasn't so crappy for me!"

"Oh diddums! Oh you poor little lamb!" Arthur laughed louder to the point where both of them were breathless with tears in their eyes and other patrons were looking over curiously to see what all the fuss was about, checking if people were really getting drunk that early in the day.

They carried on talking, barely having a chance to finish their first drink; both of them poking fun at each other and chatting about their jobs and what they had to do. Alfred's occupation seemed a lot more interesting, with the duties he had and how they worked, but he seemed just as happy to listen to Arthur talk about his stupid and frightening managers, his co-workers and his customers; to Alfred's delight, Arthur even joined in with swapping amusing stories, telling him all about the embarrassing and hilarious things he'd encountered in that unassuming shop.

Even after they decided to leave they talked about everything and nothing the whole journey to Arthur's flat, joking and laughing (sometimes even hysterically) about some of the strangest things. Alfred had learnt that Arthur was also not the best cook, usually forgetting that he was even cooking anything in the first place and burning it to a crisp, and that was just sticking things in the oven; things got serious –and on a few occasions, dangerous- when actual ingredients were involved. Instead, he mostly made food that didn't need cooking; that, or he ended up just eating his slightly or mostly burnt food a lot of the time, if he was lucky, or maybe even a microwaved meal or two. One had to work hard to burn those.

Arthur had learnt how Alfred had a strange obsession with video games, superheroes and comic books of all kinds; how he had seen almost every film with comic book heroes in them, knew what was amazing about every adaptation and everything that was horrifyingly wrong with them as well. Alfred knew all their powers, where they lived, their love interests, the actors who voiced or played the characters and even trivia about them that seemed so obscure it baffled Arthur why anyone in their right mind would ever find it important. He was so invested in all of these characters' stories and moralities and he always aimed to follow them and yet at the same time he was cripplingly afraid of spiders.

They seemed to learn so much about each other in that one car ride and neither of them really seemed to notice; even after they arrived they kept talking, both of them at one point or another using the excuse 'I'll just finish this story and then we'll stop'. However that one story opened up ten whole new paths of conversation and the time ticked away absently as they talked and laughed in Alfred's car. It was only when Arthur hesitated before telling Alfred a funny story about how someone challenged him to a fight because he thought he was trying to steal his chavy girlfriend, that Alfred's smile faded slightly for just a moment; there was something he had to get out in the open, he had to find a way to say it. Arthur finished the story chuckling and Alfred grinned.

"That happen a lot to you then?" He asked and Arthur smirked.

"People being idiotic around me? Yes. All the time. You're a prime example of that." Arthur laughed when Alfred pouted like a child.

"Oh thanks a lot ya douche!" He grinned. "No I meant the girlfriend thing; from the way you were talking it was like it happened before."

"A few times I suppose…" Arthur mused, scratching his cheek absently. "Mostly because even when I was a little shite I still treated woman with more respect than men; seems they all thought my being nice and treating them as respectable human beings warranted them to think I was trying to steal their property." His voice sounded very unimpressed to simply be remembering such a time; Alfred nodded slowly in understanding.

"Yeah I know what you mean. The jerks."

"Oh?" Arthur's tone changed again and became lighter, teasing once again. "You mean to tell me it's happened to you as well? A strapping young lad like you must get threatened by mindless idiots all the time to stay away from their women!" He laughed and Alfred had to stop himself from blushing, knowing that the comment was only a joke; Alfred steeled himself before grinning.

"A few times I suppose." He mocked Arthur accent and the Englishman elbowed him lightly. "I've always been a friendly person anyway so that never helped my situation. But they figured out pretty soon that they had nothing to worry about; not only am I just a nice guy, I would just never be interested in their girlfriends! I have 'different tastes'." He chuckled but on the inside Alfred was sweating and panicking, especially when he glanced at Arthur and saw the realisation on his face. Alfred had just wanted to get it out in the open, he wanted to be sure Arthur knew his sexual orientation and would be okay with it; he needed to know that he could at least still have a friendship with Arthur even if they couldn't be romantically involved. Alfred really liked Arthur and he didn't want to just be nothing to him; he could deal with friendship.

"Oh!" Arthur exclaimed quietly, the all too familiar sound that Alfred had heard so many times. "So…" He trailed off, clearly not knowing how to carry on the sentence or if he should even try; Alfred eased his worry slightly by scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh right. I uh- never really mentioned that huh?" He chuckled awkwardly and cleared his throat. "I am… like, homosexual. I uh- That's not like, a problem. Right?" He smiled a little and to his relief Arthur quickly shook his head.

"Oh! Oh no, no that's not a-"

"Oh good cause I was a little worried, like-"

"No I'm not- I don't- um- I don't have-"

"A problem with it?"

"I don't have a problem with it."

"You don't mind?"

"O-of course I don't mind why would-"

"I- I was just, y'know, thinkin'-"

"I don't have a problem with it Alfred."

"Are you sure?" He asked, holding up his hands so they wouldn't talk over each other again. "Cause I know like, some straight guys really have a problem with it or they think I'm just being nice cause I wanna get some and that's not what I'm doing so-"

"Alfred."

"I want to make sure you know it doesn't mean anything like that or-"

"It's alright Alfred." Arthur said firmly, making Alfred hunch back slightly and look away, his face a little red. Arthur regarded him for a moment and sighed softly. "Alfred, I know we don't know each other very well, but I'm not an idiot." His words made Alfred freeze. "You don't have to be ashamed or worried about what I may think about your orientation. It's not something that you choose and I know that it doesn't change who you are. Don't worry about what other people may think of you." He paused and looked forward again, frowning slightly as he debated whether or not he should say anything more. "I do… Understand. You know…" He said quietly. Alfred looked over at him, just happy that he hadn't figured out that the American actually did have a giant school boy crush on him; Arthur cleared his throat and sighed before looking at Alfred again. "I myself am… Um-"

"You too?"

"Well- y- no um- well I'm… Bisexual. I- yeah I know it's not really the same thing but…" Arthur's face was a darker red than Alfred as he trailed off.

"No man I get it. Yeah that helps, thanks." Alfred smiled. "See what I mean about telling people though? Stressful isn't it?" He chuckled and Arthur scowled at him; Alfred could tell he wasn't really angry at all.

"Oh shut it. Don't use me as an example to prove your point!" He chuckled softly. "Anyway, don't worry about it okay? I know I'm not the same but I understand a little. I know everything isn't so black and white." Arthur's eyes were closed as he scratched his head, obviously a bit flustered about the situation. Alfred already knew that Arthur was bi; he's overheard him saying it in the shop just once (He wasn't spying or anything! It was complete coincidence! At least in his own mind…). But it really meant the world to Alfred that the Englishman would be able to trust him enough with that information, even telling him as a way to ease Alfred's worries about admitting his own sexuality. Alfred couldn't help but smile at the kind gesture.

"Hey…" Alfred said slowly after a short and fairly comfortable silence. "If you don't mind me asking, I know it's personal and all… When did you stop being a punk?" Arthur had looked away as the questions was asked, already knowing where Alfred's thoughts were going; the time before he turned over a new leaf was something that he kept very close to his chest, he didn't want someone to think wrongly of him, and for some reason, especially not Alfred. Arthur chanced a glance at the man and he was wearing the same soft expression that he had only seen a few times in what seemed like the eternity that he'd known him; a caring smile gracing his lips.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to dude. Just curious, y'know? It's like, I can't even imagine you as someone like that. Not that it's bad that you were or anything. I'm just curious." Alfred said, sounding casual so Arthur would easily be able to brush the subject off; but he didn't. Arthur just chuckled softly and sat back in his seat, his voice turned soft and his eyes became almost distant, looking at the dashboard of the car.

"Around three years ago. That's when I decided, then a year later I started working at the shop." He said quietly. "Thankfully I had never got myself many piercings or tattoos so after I actually got around to writing a CV, it was just a matter of being persistent when trying to get a job." Arthur chuckled again. "Obviously I couldn't do much with just my A-levels. But the shop was a good start. It was stable. I was able to actually move out of where I was staying eventually, get my own flat instead of mooching off of other people." He shook his head at the memories that were swimming around his head. "I got into so many fights, so much shit… Sorting myself out was the best decision I ever made."

"Why did you?" Alfred asked and the Englishman looked over at him. "I understand as much as I can; I was pretty sheltered after all." He smiled a little wider as Arthur laughed softly in response. "But it's pretty easy to stay the same y'know?" Alfred said softly and the Englishman sighed with an almost sad smile.

"I suppose I was just tired." Arthur leant back and closed his eyes. "I was already in the 'wrong crowd' while I was still in school. I barely scraped Cs and Ds in my final exams. It didn't help though, I didn't care enough about education. Yeah… I suppose I was just tired." When Alfred nodded slowly he smiled and decided to elaborate. "Tired of being a burden, tired of the people around me, how they affected me, how I was angry all the time over the stupidest little things. Screaming bloody murder at complete strangers, fighting people, hurting them… Hurting the ones I cared about. I was…" Arthur sighed and shook his head, opening his eyes slowly to look out at the night sky through the windshield. "I was tired. Tired of blaming the world for all my problems. So, I re-thought my life, my priorities; sorted myself out, said goodbye to my old friends and left the old me behind. I technically still know some of them, but we never speak; some of them also changed their outlook on life, some didn't. All I know is that this is my life now. Stable. Pleasant. That's what matters to me right now." He nodded slowly and smiled at Alfred. "You kind of ruined that though, I'll have you know." He chuckled as Alfred's expression went from soft to shocked in 0.2seconds .

"What!? You asshole! No way me coming along made your job any less stable, I'm not getting you fired!" The American whined like a child, accepting that the serious moment was now over, and they would now return to much happier ground. Arthur smiled with a glint of mischief in his expression.

"Maybe not, but it has certainly become a lot less pleasant." He grinned.

"Liar!" They both laughed long and loud and smiled at each other for a little too long as they calmed down. A couple minutes later Arthur sighed and cleared his throat with a small smile.

"Well. I've taken up far too much of your time already, so I really should be going."

"Okay dude, cool." Alfred smiled as Arthur went to open the door to the car. "So did it work?"

"Did what work?"

"Going back to the bar? Did it work?" Alfred asked again with a hopeful smile. Arthur thought for a moment before looking away and getting out of the car, though Alfred was sure he saw Arthur's smile widen a little.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." He chuckled, bending down to look into the car to see Alfred's cheerful expression. "It did. Thank you for that Alfred. I really do appreciate it." Alfred just grinned brighter.

"No problem dude! I'm glad we could do it!"

"I enjoyed myself." Arthur smiled and nodded. "See you next time Alfred." He waved slightly and left to go back to his flat. Alfred didn't see how Arthur was smiling happily to himself as he left, but somehow he could just tell.

Alfred sat silently in the car for a moment before grinning from ear to ear; Arthur really had enjoyed himself, that day could not have gone any better, everything had gone perfectly and Alfred felt fantastic. Ecstatic! Overjoyed, delighted, elated, every single positive adjective in the English language was crammed inside of Alfred's mind and threatening to spill over in the most undignified and girlish scream that Alfred could muster. So before that could happen, he quickly grabbed his Ipod and plugged it into his car, choosing a song and heading off down the road. He belted Bon Jovi's 'Livin' on a Prayer' non-stop on repeat the whole journey home until his throat was sore. He had a skype call to make; his brother wasn't going to get a moment's peace that evening.

*Peeks in* Oh hey there owo;;; So, I'm sorry for such slow updates but like I said, no matter how much time passes, I'm NOT giving up on this story and I will ALWAYS update eventually XD life got in the way for a while but here's the next chapter. I hope you like it! Thank you all for you kind and wonderful comments cause it's your reviews that keep me wanting to write. I read them over and over when I was having trouble writing and it really means the world to me so thank you 333
Anyone notice how comfortable Arthur is around Alfred now? Anyone see how differently he acts around him now? swearing freely and poking fun and caring and being a little dork? You like that? Good. Cause I'm about to ruin everything *w* See you in the next chapter~
-Lolo